I remember being one of the first students to integrate Beltsville Elementary in Beltsville, Maryland. I was not in the first class but one of the first groups. I remember the teacher putting me at a desk away from the other students. She couldn’t ignore me long because I was the smartest girl in the first grade! I could read for comprehension. When we discussed the World’s Fair of 1961, I had a lot to offer. My grandmother had taken me there on a Greyhound bus! I learned a life lesson that education was the key. People may not like you but they would always respect an educated person.